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So overall all it was not that scary once I got there. People had asked me if I was scared and to be honest I was not that scared till they started asking and that implanted a lot of doubts in my head about travelling alone in North America with no driving skills. A work mate of mine even laughed about the fact that I usually like to walk around saying that – ‘don’t walk on the road, police might just shoot you on the spot’. It was funny but when I was looking forward to this trip (my first time in mainland in America), it wasn’t funny at the end and it made me more anxious. I had to see though what is this all about and I had to go to Los Angeles due to being a really big fan of Hollywood movies. If you don’t know much about me then just so that you know, I have watched thousands of Hollywood movie and I can say that I grew up watching them so this trip was like a dream come true. I know I sound very melodramatic but that was the expression on my face since I started from Sydney and all the way to Los Angeles. I was excited and I couldn’t stop smiling and I guess that made people even more friendly towards me and I got lots of food on the way to Los Angeles and even a Christmas pack full of lollies from the flight attendant.

I was asked few questions at the custom and they looked quiet intrigued knowing that it is my first time in USA and that too alone and I don’t know anyone here. Well you have to start somewhere. I knew people in USA but just not the places I had planned to visit 😉 Sounds like an adventure isn’t it. I know it was exciting and was keeping me on my toes with this thrilling sensation even when I was not doing any adventure sport here. This trip was more adventurous than many other things I have done in my life I can say. And I do really mean it so if you ever doubt of doing something but get excited thinking about it then trust me it would be good to just do it. As I had not expected anything from this trip but it became one of the most adventurous (in different sense), emotional roller coaster kind of trip of my life. I cried, I laughed, I got scared, I smiles, I went curious with new things, I was hungry, I was too full, I rested, I went days without enough or no sleep and finally I felt sad while leaving USA. That’s how wonderful my trip really was.

My actual plan was to spend Christmas in LA (Los Angeles) and New Year in Miami. But I end up going to Las Vegas for Christmas from where I did a tour to Grand Canyon with a helicopter ride and a boat trip at the very bottom of the canyon in Colorado river. I don’t know about others but I was awe-struck for quiet some time and was trying to soak this all in and taking pictures at the same time with this amazing place. No doubt that its a natural wonder of the world. I had to literally run as it was a day tour so I would advice if possible then take few days to absorb the beauty of grand canyon and definitely do a helicopter ride if you can afford as its worthwhile when you have already planned this trip to Grand Canyon. Here are few links for the tour just in case:

Now that I had done the tour to Grand Canyon and seen all the beautiful and exotic casinos of Vegas it was time to go back to Los Angeles and visit San Diego from there. But guess what I missed my bus. It so happened that I must have been walking way too much and when I was in Vegas, I kind of lost track of time with day and night. I was having my first coffee first thing in the morning and last thing in the day as well 😉 Around 2 AM I had my coffee as per my Vegas routine and put an alarm on my phone without realizing it was not plugged to the charger properly and then the inevitable happened. My phone died and I realized it was 9:30 AM already and my bus must have left by 7:30 AM. I was in a wired state of shock when you feel like déjà Vu and I tried to go back to sleep thinking it might be just a dream. Unfortunately it wasn’t and then I started looking for another bus which wasn’t going to run till late in the evening so it looked almost impossible for me to get to San Diego tonight. But I wasn’t going to give up that easy hence I decided to hitch hike. Yes, you heard me right I was all up for asking for a ride. I started my attempt in the hotel I was staying but I was too shy to literally going to people and ask hence I asked one lady only. Then navigated the way to Los Angeles on my GPS and started walking towards this road that leads to Los Angeles. I wish it wasn’t that far then I could have just walked to it 😉 Any ways I did take a ride from Las Vegas to Los Angeles and that too with a very nice truck driver and learned all about him and his nice family on the way and I am still alive so it was fun I must say.

Its time for me to go now and I would tell you more about this adventure and how I was told to stand at the right spot to be able to hitch hike to LA by a local in Vegas who had done his share of hitch hiking in his time. So stay tuned my friends as its been a while that I have had a chat with you all and I missed you so very much 🙂 But not to worry I am back and that too with lots of stories to tell.